a failure."
He focused on the barrier again, and I tried to send my gratitude to him through the connection. He’d had my back, just as Jacob always did. Family. Should have gotten one earlier.
There was no time to focus on my many and varied mental issues, because Tyson needed all of us to step up. "I'm channeling power through the eight, and it's legitimately enough to blow half the world away," he bit out through gritted teeth, "but this dragon has the power of that ley line and all the supernatural and human lives he's stolen." He sucked in air, his next words even harder to understand. "Need you all to help ... me…"
One by one, we stepped forward and placed our hands on the field. Louis and Tee hovered just behind us, ready to jump in if this didn't work.
The ten of us all that stood between this dragon and the end of the world.
35
Jacob Compass
The power surging through me was unlike anything I'd felt before. I'd never been this strong and filled with the energy of all four races. The speed of vampires; the animalistic nature of shifters; the Earth ley line powers of the magic users; and the elemental, ancient energy that was fey. All of us felt it, and whatever had separated me from my brothers shifted until we were one and there was no other.
Except our mates. The bright burning light of the four of them, their natures yang to our yin, the light to our darkness. The soft to our hard. The level-headed to our mindless power. The other half to our souls.
It was in that second, as the power continued to rise, seemingly limitless, that I truly understood why we hadn't been able to join like this until this moment. We would have been lost in the darkness. The power … it was too much. No one could have channeled it without being consumed. No one. But with the four mate bonds complete, we finally had an anchor to keep us from destroying the world.
"This is why quad bonds are so rare," Jessa breathed. I couldn't see her from where I was standing, but I knew the exact what-the-hell expression she would be wearing. "You four literally could destroy the world."
"Lucky they have us," Mischa added, her voice a little strained. Not surprising considering how much power we were wielding. The shield had started to shimmer under our touch, and I had the vague hope that we might shatter it soon … if we didn't, this much power would begin to affect us in a way we might not want.
"We're so close," Tyson muttered, his frustration clear in the vibrating anger of his words.
Louis cleared his throat. "Still standing here. Think maybe I should help now? You all have the power, but a new bond is always going to have some teething problems."
Just as he stepped forward, hand out, Tyson shouted, "No!"
But it was too late.
Louis's hand scraped across the shield and the power reacted with so much force that it blasted him back in a loud crack, sending him flying miles behind us. Tee cursed loudly, taking off in a surge of magic to follow her mate.
"Is he going to be okay?" Justice asked, panicked. By instinct she knew not to remove her hands, even though she wanted to follow Louis. Grace did as well, her healer side surging to life.
Right now, no one could break the eight.
"Tee will get him back, and she can heal," Tyson reminded them, strain in his broken voice. "None of us can move."
My eyes met his across the line of our family, and I saw weariness there, resignation. He knew what he had to do, but it was not going to end well.
This could destroy our quad bond, he said to me through our mental link. If we had more time together, it would have worked, but … as always, we were thrown in the deep end.
The mate bonds? I shot back.
They should be safe. They're on a level beyond what any of us can touch. But the brother bond … I may fry it.
It hurt more than I expected to think of losing my brothers in that way. It's the only way?
A second hesitation. To force the bond to evolve to what we need, I will have to step up to the next level. We’re basically going up against the most powerful ley line in the worlds, and I expect it will fry the bond.
Justice